President Trump Pardons Reb Yosef Schwartz of Monsey

President Donald Trump issued a presidential pardon Friday for Reb Yosef (Joseph) Schwartz, the 72-year-old former head of the Skyline corporation nursing home company, who was serving a 36-month sentence for tax-related offenses.

The pardon was announced by allies of the administration, including Ed Martin, a former Special Attorney for the Department of Justice. “Thank you: @POTUS! Joseph Schwartz is now free to rebuild his life and business with his family, who never stopped living and advocating for him,” Martin stated in a social media post.

Schwartz, a prominent member of the Monsey Jewish community, was sentenced in a New Jersey federal court earlier this year. The case involved tax issues that his defense team argued were the result of mistakes made by a third-party staffing firm, claiming Schwartz himself had paid all requisite funds to the government.

The case gained national attention from conservative commentators, who portrayed the sentencing as a terrible injustice.

Schwartz’s 36-month sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton.
The sentence drew immediate condemnation from critics, who noted that prosecutors had reportedly pushed for a much lighter sentence—first time served, and later a one-year plea deal.

Critics argued the three-year prison term was effectively a “death sentence” for the elderly Schwartz, who is battling serious health issues, including diabetes and heart problems.

Commentator and close Trump confidant Lara Loomer, who was involved in securing his pardon, decried the ruling in April as “judicial tyranny” and an example of a “2-tiered justice system.”

She contrasted Schwartz’s treatment with a high-profile 2021 ruling by Judge Wigenton, in which she defended a man arrested on drug and weapon charges (possession of heroin and a handgun) on the grounds that his illegal property was seized in a way that ran afoul of a novel interpretation of the rights to privacy.
Loomer and other critics seized on this comparison, alleging judicial bias. “Isn’t it absurd how Judge Wigenton is ok with freeing a repeat, violent drug dealer, but she is trying to lock up a non-violent elderly RABBI for 3 years???” Loomer wrote, labeling the discrepancy as “shameful, obvious antisemitism.”

Sources tell Belaaz that lobbyist and Trump ally Roger Stone was also involved in convincing the president to pardon Schwartz.

Schwartz’s pardon effectively nullifies the sentence, releasing him from federal custody.